Intimate Portraits Pay Tribute To Auschwitz Survivors

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On Jan. 27, 1945, soldiers of the Soviet army entered the gates of Auschwitz in southern Poland, liberating the largest and most notorious network of Nazi concentration camps.

Just 7,000 prisoners were left in the camp when the Soviets entered in January 1945 and many of them were on the brink of death. In the days before the liberation, members of the SS had killed thousands of prisoners inside the camps and forced 60,000 others on "death marches" west. An estimated 1.1 million of the 1.3 million people deported to Auschwitz lost their lives in the camp.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Getty photographer Christopher Furlong created a series of intimate portraits of some of the camp's survivors who are now living in the U.K. The photos tell a story of both suffering and survival.

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Susan Kluger, aged 89, poses in her home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 1, 2014. As the Russians approached Poland, the Nazis saw the end of the war coming and Eva was sent from Auschwitz to Bergen Belsen where she was eventually liberated by the British in 1945. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Susan Pollock, aged 84, poses in her home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 1, 2014. Susan was transported from her home in Hungary to Auschwitz where her mother was immediately taken from her and sent to the gas chambers. Susan was subject to hard slave labour until she was eventually forced to walk to Belsen in the bitterly cold winter and later liberated by British forces. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Rene Salt, aged 85, poses in her home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 3, 2014. Rene Salt was imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 14. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Alexander Riseman, aged 88, poses in his home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 1, 2014. Alexander and his family were sent to Auschwitz from his home in Poland, and eventually liberated by the Russian forces. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz and Belsen concentration camp survivor Eva Behar poses in her home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 1, 2014. As the Russians approached Poland the Nazis saw the end of the war coming and Eva was sent from Auschwitz to Bergen on Jan. 1, 1945 where she was eventually liberated by the British. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Sam Pivnik, aged 88, poses in his home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 1, 2014. At the age of 14, Sam Pivnik was forced marched to Auschwitz by the Nazis, along with his father and mother, sisters Chana and Handel and younger brothers Meir, Wolf and Josef, who were all murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz Birkenau. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Josef Perl, aged 84, poses in his home in London, United Kingdom on Dec. 3, 2014. Josef Perl was imprisoned in Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Gross-Rosen, Balkenhain, Hirschberg and Buchenwald concentration camps. He has spent twenty years of his life educating people of the horrors and the lessons to be learnt from the Holocaust. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)